The way out is within

It’s Friday again. We talked kids and super foods this week. I anticipated talking exercise and don’t worry I will. After food it’s the best natural mood booster and overall health benefactor out there. More later.

I also spoke with a friend of mine at work about something we have in common. We share this with many of you out there as well. The personal part of all of this for me is my long struggle with food. We had a very unhealthy relationship for many years. I now know it is my teacher and the thing that reminds me to stay present.

She asked a question about all of the mounds of information out there. All the research, all the diets, all the contradictory information about what we should or shouldn’t eat. While there is of course value in all of it, it’s when we get consumed by it that it no longer helps. I don’t believe there’s any one “diet” for those of us searching for a way to stop the endless battle of food obsession or eating disorders. I do, however, believe there is a universal answer for all addictive behavior or any challenging situation for that matter and only then can you be open to making peace with yourself.

When I was at a very painful point in my life I had said to someone who was trying to help, “If you could just tell me how to get this out of my head I know I will be alright.” I was given the typical suggestion to start another activity or take myself out of a particularly vulnerable situation. Although helpful, that wasn’t quite it.

If we continue to live in and through our minds we will always be one step behind. Our minds were meant for our use. Instead, our minds are using us. We’re walking around this planet in our heads instead of our hearts and that will always lead to suffering.

The incessant, repetitive dialogue in our heads is keeping us trapped. We need to recognize this is holding us back from truly living. It’s something we need to practice and thankfully there are teachers out there to help. It may be something many of you have never heard of before. It almost sounds too simple to be true, but that’s because it is both simple and true. What do we have to lose by trying?

This is where you find peace – the thing you’ve been searching for all along. The struggle with food, the drug addiction, the cancer diagnosis, the numbing pain, every loss is the disguise, but also the catalyst to help you go within.

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future,
or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.The Buddha (c.563-c.483 BC), India

3 Responses

As a breast cancer survivor I have put a lot of thought into how best to carry on with my life after diagnosis and treatment. I could worry constantly (there is a lot to worry about) or I could more the past (because I lost my innocence) but the most important thing I do each day is live.

No one, cancer or not, has time to waste. We can all live by those rules.